The Early Days
by cucumbermelon3200
Summary: Samantha Carter, Cameron Mitchell, and John Sheppard: their story from the beginning, up until they went their separate ways. If you're a fan of any one of these characters, or any combination of them, hopefully you'll enjoy this fanfic.
1. Recollections and Childhood stories

The Early Days

**Chapter 1:**

The light from the barren fridge illuminated the dark room.

Major Cameron Mitchell scanned the shelves lazily for a midnight snack. Damn, it had been a long day.

He had just returned home from a test flight with a newly constructed jet. It was a nice plane, but nothing special. It had checked out just like all the others, and his job was done.

Groaning at his selection, he reached into the depths of the fridge and grabbed a beer. He popped the cap off the bottle and took a swig from it as he walked down the hallway in the direction of the TV and couch.

He swayed slightly with drowsiness as he turned the corner into the living room, and his shoulder knocked against a large book sticking out of his bookshelf, and it fell to the floor.

Setting down his bottle on the light table and bending to pick up the worn photo album, he realized the impact had forced it to open and flip over on its back.

He allowed his hand to hover over the object for several moments, realizing he couldn't quite remember what was in this album; but it was dusty and the cover was worn, and he could tell that whatever it was, he hadn't looked at it in a long time.

Curious, he carefully grabbed the book by its spine and pulled it into his lap, taking a seat in his favorite armchair.

The old pages flipped over each other, making ghostly ruffling sounds in the quiet of his den. When they stilled somewhere in the middle of the album, he smoothed the pages gently with his hands and switched on the lamp to study them more closely.

The first picture he noticed was one that made him grin nostalgically.

A young man of about 21 with a large mess of spiky, gelled black hair, (his trademark, he remembered) held the camera out at arm's length so only his face was visible. He was quite handsome, he had to admit. His face was turned slightly and his chin turned slightly upright. His one raised eyebrow gave him a quirky, young look. Cam could tell by the hand thoughtfully stroking his chin that he was obviously trying to strike an intelligent pose.

On the right side of the photo, (what of it that was not taken up by the close up of the man's face) were two other occupants. One of them, Cam noticed, was a younger version of himself.

He had more hair in this picture, and it was spiked at strange angles much like the other man's. His 23-year old face was boyish and without creases. He was raising one eyebrow questioningly and biting into a large slice of pizza. He had obviously not been prepared for the photo.

Beside him sat a young woman with short blond hair. She was leaning in over the table in front of Cam so she just barely fit in the picture. She, like the two men, also appeared very youthful in nature and was wearing a wide grin across her entire face.

Cam smiled, remembering the day the photo had been taken. They had just ordered a pizza and were digging into it when John had decided to retrieve his camera from his bag and capture the moment.

"Say cheese…" he had said, holding the camera out in front of him and putting on his "handsome face." Cam had simply raised an eyebrow, and Sam, who had been equally cheerful as John that day, leaned into the frame at the last minute saying "cheese!"

The memory faded from his mind with the flash of the camera. He studied the other pictures in the collage.

He had an official picture of each of his friends in their dress blues taken the year they graduated from the academy, and another picture of the three of them striking a Charlie's Angel type pose in the middle of the park.

He flipped back a couple pages.

Now there were pictures from their early days at the academy. Damn, they were young! They must have been no older than 18 in these pictures, (well, 17, 18 and 19 actually; John had dropped out of high school a year early to attend the academy.)

The three had been friends for as long as Cam could remember. They had first met at one of Sam's dad's "company barbecues," as he'd called them, (he liked to invite over members of his squadron, and John's and Cam's fathers had been under his command unit at the time).

It was easy to understand why they had immediately attracted one another. They were the three youngest kids at the gathering being 6, 7 and 8 at the time.

_Sam hated boys, she thought as she hurled her hat up at the tree branches again, aiming for the red and yellow stripe that was her toy plane. Her brother had done mean things to her before, but this was definitely payback worthy._

"_Wat'cha doin'?" a tiny voice asked, interrupting her thoughts._

_Sam had detected his presence some while ago and didn't express the least bit of surprise when he spoke up. He was a small boy, and would have been shorter than her had it not been for the large mass of dark hair that stuck up awkwardly on his head. His clothes were too big for him, too—hand-me-downs probably. He was standing several yards away from her, watching with curiosity as she became increasingly frustrated. Sam hated boys... especially younger boys._

"_What does it look like I'm doing, moron?" she asked, repeating the word she had heard her father use on countless occasions during business calls. The last time, she had made the mistake of calling her brother a moron in front of her mother. But her mother wasn't around this time, and she had very little patience for annoying little boys right now._

_But the boy didn't seem the least bit phased. John Sheppard was used to name-calling by now, and his lips curled slightly upwards when she turned her back on him and chucked her hat up at the tree once more._

"_You throw like a girl," he mocked, and he grinned with satisfaction when her next throw went short of its destination and dropped back down to hit her on the head, but she still tried hard to ignore him._

_John liked girls... especially older girls. He was the annoying kid in the class who was always teasing girls, pulling their hair, sticking frogs in their desks, and finding new and creative ways to get them to chase after him. _

_But he didn't know how to make friends, so instead he annoyed people to get attention. John was an only child, and the only playmate he really ever had was his older cousin, Louie._

"_Go away," she growled, her patience with him reaching its limits. _

"Go away!"_ he mimicked, in a high pitched voice. _

_Unable to restrain herself, Sam whirled around and hurled the projectile at John's head. He ducked it before it made contact, and Sam instantly realized her mistake when a wide grin spread across the boy's face, but her temper could not have been controlled. _

_John spun around quick and retrieved the hat from where it lay several feet away. _

"_Missed me, missed me, now you've gotta kiss me!" he chanted, and took off running._

_Cam stood beside his father, a frown of boredom plastered on his face while the two officers conversed. He was staring absentmindedly at the older kids playing football on the other side of the yard. What he wouldn't give to be invited to join them... but at company gatherings such as this one, there were certain rules to be followed, Cam knew from experience; and one of them was the rule abut little kids. Until he was 10, he would be labeled as such, and would only be allowed to "bother" kids his own age._

_He sighed. The only younger kids he'd seen at the party thus far were a couple of kindergarteners giving each other piggy-back rides. _

_Cam would have been happy to give out piggy-back rides to little kids if they asked him, but he was trying to make a good impression for the middle schoolers right now, and he knew he was more mature than they gave him credit for._

"_How 'bout that, Cam?" his father's voice interrupted his day dreaming and he looked up. "Major Carter says he has a daughter about your age; why don't you go ask her to play?" _

_Cam winced, looking back and forth between the general and his father, as though to make sure they were serious. The last time he'd been asked to play with a girl he ended up dressing and redressing dolls for half an hour. _

_The Major didn't seem to pick up on this though, as he was already scanning the yard for his daughter. "Now, I know she's around here somewhere... I saw her and Mark playing just a little while ago..." he said._

_Just then, a screaming child could be heard faintly from the other side of the house, and it was growing louder as the kid came closer. _

_Cam's eyes widened in disbelief when a tiny boy rounded the corner, sprinting full speed with a piece of fabric scrunched tightly in his fist. He was followed closely by a little blond girl of about the same age, looking extremely angry. _

_They weaved through circles of people and raced past Major Carter too fast for him to react, and he was nearly knocked off his feet. _

_Cam watched, open-mouthed as the girl gained on him, then leaped into the air and tackled him to the ground. They landed directly in a giant mud puddle and slid several inches, splattering several people in the crowd, including a very lavishly dressed Mrs. West. The girl stayed on top of him and grinded his face into the muck. _

_Cam had seen fights before, but this was the first time he had seen so much fury come out of such a little kid._

_When he looked back over at Carter, he realized his expression had quickly gone from shock to rage, and he made a prediction that the mud covered girl must be his daughter. _

_He could see an outburst coming, and so Cam did the one thing he could possibly think of. _

_With a nervous grin, he shouted "Mud fight!" and ran and dove into the mud like it were a slip-and-slide. _

_All around him, cheers erupted from the silent crowd as kids of all ages raced for the mud and began jumping, rolling and throwing it at each other. Mud flew in every direction and the general frowned momentarily when he was hit square in the chest by a large mud ball, then looked out at the kids laughing and playing and couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face before he wiped the excess from his flannel shirt and smothered the back of Mitchell's head with it._

_Sam, having recovered her lost possession, shook it out and then slopped it over her already mud-coated head. Then, with an evil grin, she formed a mud ball in her hand and targeted the dark-haired boy._

_After the mud fight, mothers fussed over their children's ruined clothes and Cam smiled in satisfaction. This had certainly proved to be the most exciting company picnic he had ever been to. _

_He located his dad in the crowd, once again conversing with Major Carter, but this time they were both laughing and covered in mud. He smiled. He knew his dad would be a good sport about it._

_Searching the area further, he noticed the girl from before standing at the trunk of a large tree, staring up at it miserably. The little boy was standing nearby, chucking sticks up at the branches as though trying to knock something down. He smiled at the sight and wandered over towards them._

"_And you say I throw like a girl..." Sam commented when one of John's projectile twigs bounced off the tree trunk and hit him in the nose. She giggled. John only stuck his tongue out at her._

"_What's you're name anyways?" she asked, picking up a much larger stick and taking aim. She still thought the kid was annoying, but it was hard for a 7 year old to hold a grudge, especially after mud fight-bonding. _

"_Jonathan," he said absentmindedly, having suddenly become fascinated with some dried mud on his hands. Sam frowned, figuring he may have ADHD or something. _

"_Don't you have a nick name?" she asked._

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Like, my name's Samantha, but people call me Sam."_

"_My mom calls me Joey," John said._

"_Ok, then," Sam said. "Joey."_

_She retrieved her stick again and threw it back up at the branches, frowning when it got stuck. _

_Suddenly, a large brown ball whizzed through the air and struck the plane dead-on, knocking it to the ground. Sam beamed in excitement and rushed to retrieve her prize while John/Joey leapt up in the air, shouting in excitement._

"_Nice shot!" she exclaimed, checking the plane over for damage and then looking up to see who had thrown the football. "Thanks!"_

"_Sure thing," the kid said with a friendly smile. He was tall, but youthful in appearance. Sam figured he was still close to her age. He was wearing a striped shirt and jeans and his reddish hair looked as though it was beginning to grow out, curling slightly at the ends. She quickly recognized him as the kid who proposed the mud fight. _

"_Where'd you learn to throw like that?" John asked, eyes popping with amazement. Cam smiled at the younger boy._

"_Football," he said, catching the ball Sam tossed his way. "I'm the quarterback."_

"_I always wanted to play football..." Sam explained. "But my dad says I can't 'cause I'm a girl and he thinks I'll get hurt."_

_John opened his mouth to add something but Cam beat him to it._

"_Why don't I teach you?" he proposed. _

"_Oooh! Me too?" John cut in, his hand shooting up while he jumped up and sown in excitement. _

"_Ok!" Sam agreed, sharing the boys enthusiasm, and she rushed out for the pass. _

So the three hit it off from the start, and became favorites of play mates even though they only saw one another when their fathers decided to have get-togethers, which was only usually about 3 times a year.

Cam grinned, remembering all the trouble they used to get up to being the youngest: the time they were playing football and launched the ball into the side mirror of Colonel West's new convertible; the time they were playing with Sam's new remote controlled toy jet and it went straight through the second story window; the time they started a food fight with the Mrs. West's beautiful apple pie… good times, good times…

But when they really became close was when they attended the academy together…

**Yay! Ok, theres chapter 1 for you. If you liked it, review, subscribe, all that good stuff! More to come soon!**


	2. A Bittersweet Reunion

**Chapter 2:**

Sam had arrived at his house earlier then she had said she would, huffing furiously and dumping her suitcase in the foyer.

_Cam frowned at the sight of his friend when he opened the door. She mumbled a greeting and attempted a friendly smile before stepping into the house and wrapping her arms around his shoulders, stepping up on her tiptoes slightly to reach him. _

_Cam hugged her back but even without seeing her face, he could tell she was frowning over his shoulder. _

_When her toes became sore, Sam released him and he allowed her to step back, but kept his hands on her shoulders and held her at arms length. _

_She didn't look at him, but stared at the ground several feet away with a far off look and dropped the suitcase she had been holding onto. _

_When his attempts to make eye contact were unsuccessful, Cam gently tilted her chin up so she was looking at him._

_"You ok?" he asked, concern evident in his eyes. _

_"Yeah," she sighed, giving him a sad smile and rubbing his hand with her thumb reassuringly. _

_He didn't get the chance to pursue the subject further though, because at that moment, Cam's mother waddled out of her bedroom drowsily and flicked on the light. If it were anyone else, she might've wacked them upside the head for showing up on their doorstep at 4:30 in the morning, but her face immediately brightened at the sight of Sam._

_Sam smiled in return as Maggie shrieked an exclamation of joy and surprise and beckoned Sam over, crushing her with a hug. _

Cam's parents had always been like Sam's second family, and they treated her much like the daughter they never had.

He remembered how frightened they had been when Cam told them he was going to attend the academy to become a pilot, and even more terrified when they learned Sam would be going down that path as well.

They kept their promise, of course, to support Cam in anything he chose to do, but that didn't mean they didn't try to talk him out of it. After what happened to Cam's father… well, they didn't want to take that chance with their only son.

For Sam, though, it had been different. Jacob was simply overwhelmed with pride the day he heard that Sam would be following in his footsteps and attending the academy. Maggie, of course, disapproved of his reaction, but kept it to herself.

While Cam had his family behind him all the way, Sam only had her father's enthusiasm, which she less then appreciated. Cam knew how she felt about her father's "help" in getting her into the academy. She hated the idea of him using his position as General to get her into good spots, and she told him so.

Jacob had been completely offended when Sam accused him of this, and they had a fight. To make matters worse, her brother had been giving her crap the whole time about going into the military; "after what happened to mom!?!" he had screamed at her.

After the fallout with her dad and brother, Sam had immediately called Cam and said she was coming over the next morning, she couldn't take it anymore. Cam had agreed instantly, thinking better then to try debating the issue with her over the phone. He would wait 'till he could talk with her face to face.

_Upstairs in his room, Cam was lying on his bed, mindlessly tossing a football into the air and catching it whilst Sam paced the room, pouring her troubles out to him as though he were Dr. Phil. _

_"I mean, can you believe he did that?" she raged. "He actually called the academy to put in a good word for me!" _

_"I can't believe he thought you'd need it."_

_"Cam, I'm serious!"_

_"So am I," he said, sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of his bed so he was facing her. "Look, are you going to blame your dad when you start getting the top grades in the class and all the teachers love you?"_

_Sam crossed her arms. "Maybe…" she said, a small smile tugging at her lips at Cam's flattering remark. _

_"Don't worry about it," he said, grabbing the football off the bed and smacking a hand over it appreciatively. "The academy doesn't care who your father is! You're going to blow them away even if your last name was… Finkelstein!" he said, earning an appreciative giggle from Sam._

_Cam smiled in turn and got up from the bed to clap his hand on her back. "Alright then. How 'bout those sandwiches?" he suggested, referring to the lunch his mother had prepared quite a while ago, to which they replied they'd be down in three minutes. _

_Sam smiled and nodded, following him towards the staircase. _

_Both teens were equally surprised when they heard a knock on the door for the second time that day on their way down the staircase. _

_"Come in!" Cam yelled, seeing as he couldn't answer the door since Sam had frozen on the step in front of him. _

_If they were surprised just moments ago, they were thoroughly astonished now at the sight of the kid poking his head through the door. _

_"Joey!" Sam squeaked, and stumbled down the stairs to leap at him from the bottom step. _

Joey had been John's nickname, reserved only for use by Sam and Cam. They couldn't quite remember how he had originally been given the name, but it had stuck over the years. Though by the time they started high school, Cam began calling him John or "Shepp" and now Sam was the only one that used Joey, except when Cam was teasing him.

_Stumbling backwards slightly, John nervously returned the hug. "It's good to see you too…" he said, patting her on the back. Cam smiled at his friend's familiar sense of humor and walked over to greet him. _

_When Sam had finally released him and stepped away far enough to let him breathe, Cam swooped in and clasped his forearm, pulling him into a 'manly' hug. Sam smiled in adoration while Cam slung an arm around the shorter boy's neck and noogied him playfully in greeting. _

_"Where you been, buddy?" Cam asked while John smiled and swatted his hand away, carefully restyling his hair. It had always been just like John to either show up late, not at all, or end up dropping in by surprise. _

_"John Sheppard, is that you?" Maggie called from the doorway down the hall, where she stood holding a plate of sandwiches._

_"John straightened and smiled politely. "Yes, ma'am," he said proudly. _

_"Well god bless you!" she said warmly, shoving the plate at Cameron and rushing to hug him. _

_Pulling out of the hug, she took him by the wrist and began to drag him towards the kitchen. "Come on, dear. We were just about to have lunch," she explained, as though the three were still in elementary school._

_Sam and Cam exchanged an amused grin as they watched John being led down the hallway by the shorter woman, and then followed behind him. _

_"So what brought you down to our little neck of the woods, dear?" Maggie asked as she poured lemonade. _

_"Yeah, I knew you had decided to attend the academy but I didn't expect to see you until a couple weeks from now," Sam added with interest, sipping her iced drink. _

_"Neither did I," John said, taking a large enough bite of his sandwich that if Sam and Cam hadn't known him so well, they would have thought he hadn't eaten in weeks. "Couldn't afford a hotel," he explained in between bites. _

_"Well, you're always welcome here, sweetheart," Maggie said, placing a hand on his arm. John returned her smile and she hurried off to make more sandwiches. _

_Once she had gone, Sam leaned in closer to continue the discussion. "What were you doing at a hotel?" she questioned with a note of parental authority._

_John sighed and drowned his glass. _

His parents had never been supportive of him, and it was no wonder that John took off the moment he had a decent amount of money and a car to drive.

He'd determined the day he started high school that he was going to attend the academy. He, like Cam, dreamed of becoming a pilot. When he got accepted his junior year, he'd decided that he no longer needed his parents, and took off. Unfortunately, he had acted entirely on impulse, like usual, and ended up broke with nowhere to go a week before school started.

So he went to the one place he knew of where he wouldn't be thrown out. Sam, Cam, Bill, and Maggie were the closest thing he had to a family outside his own parents. He'd been weary about coming at first, thinking they'd be disappointed or angry with him for being so reckless, especially since he hadn't been keeping in contact with them for such a long time. He hadn't expected the warm welcome he received.

_Sam put a calming hand on his wrist. "It's ok. You're in good company," she said, referring to Sam and Cam's own parental issues. _

**So I promised to update soon, and so I did. Not sure when chapter 3 will be up yet, but stay tune! And thank you everyone who commented on Chapter 1! **


	3. BCT

**Author's Note: Alright, here's chapter 3. Sorry for the long wait, and I hope it's acceptable. Hopefully after I figure out how the next couple of chapters are going to go, I'll be able to move faster. Thanks for the reviews on Chpter 2, and keep them coming! **

**Chapter 3**

_"Welcome to your first week of Basic Cadet Training," the young man hollered, pacing across the front row of new cadets sitting attentively in the wooden bleachers. "I am Cadet Kelly, and this," he gestured towards another young man standing behind him. "...is Cadet Ryan. We will be in charge of your squadron for the next 5 weeks."_

_They had just been assigned to their squadrons and were now attending their first official briefing, held by their head cadet officer: a rather uptight first class cadet who seemed to dislike everyone. _

_As he rambled on, John began to lose his interest and slowly allowed himself to slide into a slumping position. Sam, who was sitting in the row directly in front of him, began elbowing his knee, urging him to sit up straight. _

John never did like military men. In fact, he thought they were uptight, smug, overly dressed, demanding, pushy, and mean; and worst of all, had no sense of humor. That lack of respect was why Sam's father, and even his own, never much liked him. He did have great respect, however, for Cam's dad—as they all did.

Not only was he a successful pilot, but he was the exact opposite of John's description of a military man. He was kind, laid back and quiet; even artistic. The accident had affected all of them.

But John didn't join the academy to become a military man. He kept one goal in mind, and that was to become a pilot.

"…_Throughout this 5 week course, you will also be introduced to many aspects of leadership," the man continued, and then his eyes fell on John, who was rolling his eyes. _

_"The first of which…" he said with a snarl. "…Is discipline." _

_John locked eyes with him and grinned defiantly. _

_"Would you like to be made an example of, Sheppard?" Kelly asked._

_"No," John responded simply, sitting up straighter. _

_The cadet frowned. "That's no, sir," he corrected._

_"No… sir," John repeated, drawling out the rank mockingly. _

_Kelly allowed one last scowl in his direction, before breaking eye contact and continuing down the row. Sam audibly released a breath she had been holding in and smacked her friend disapprovingly in the knee._

_Later that evening, Cam found his friend in the boy's locker room, leaning on a sink and staring into the mirror whilst running a hand through his now bristly short hair. Cam smiled in amusement, whipping his towel over his bare shoulder. _

_"Something wrong, Shepp?" he teased. _

_John smiled back, having recognized Cam's reflection in the left side of the mirror, and he turned around._

_"I just don't get this hair thing," he said, catching the bundled towel that Cam tossed his way, and beginning to dab his still shower-damp hair with it. _

_"I told you they'd chop it off," Cam said. "It's regs John; you can't avoid it." _

_"My hair's never held me back before. In fact, I think it's given me the advantage," he said conceitedly, rolling up the towel and jamming it into his locker. _

_Cam laughed. "Yeah, you keep on thinking that, Shepp."_

_Just as the boys were closing their lockers, there was a low whistle from just outside the back door, and John and Cam exchanged puzzled looks. Then came, "Cam! Joey! It's me! Get over here!" in a sharp whisper. _

_They hurried to the door, Cam pulling a white T-shirt on as he went, and they stepped outside. _

_There they found Sam, her hair also cut short now and pulled back into a curly stub at the back, looking nervously excited. Cam knew as well as she did that she shouldn't be here, but Cadet Kelly and the other superior officers were busy patrolling the front entrances, waiting for their hygiene time to run out so they could blow their whistles and herd everyone into their dorms. _

_As John came out behind Cam, Sam shot a funny look at his crew cut. _

_"Don't say anything," he warned, waving a finger in her face. _

_She quickly threw her hands up in defeat and looked innocent. "I wasn't."_

_Cam, growing impatient, was quick to get to the point. "What is it?" he demanded._

_Sam, unfazed by his rudeness, instead looked back at John. "Joey, there's someone who wanted to see you," she explained, and pointed over his shoulder._

_John slowly turned around, afraid he might find a red-faced Cadet Kelly standing there, waiting to give him a lecture, but instead he found someone else. _

_An older boy, about the same age as Kelly and wearing the same uniform, stood smiling with his hands on his hips. He was as dark-haired as John and equally handsome, with a kind face and unshaven stubble. _

"_Lou!" John exclaimed, smiling upon seeing him and gave him a back-slapping hug. The man returned the gesture, smiling over his shoulder. _

_Cam raised an eyebrow. "Hey Joe, care to introduce us to your friend?" he asked as politely as possible, eyeing the man's badges. _

_John released him and turned to faced his friends, one arm still draped over Lou's shoulder. _

"_This is my cousin Louie," he explained excitedly. "I've told you about him."_

_Cam's eyebrows shot up in recognition. "Oh right, you're his cousin," he remembered, and offered his hand, which Louie graciously shook. _

"_I haven't seen this guy in like, two yeas!" John said, releasing his shoulder and turning to face him. _

"_Yeah," the man finally spoke, his voice smooth and deep. "I found out you'd decided to attend the academy and I had to come and see you. I'm heading another squadron," he explained, pointing over in the direction of the other squadron's locker room. _

"_Nice," John said thoughtfully, glancing over in the direction he pointed to. "Too bad you couldn't have headed our squadron. Kelly's a..." _

_But Louie cut him off. "John I know you don't like him but he's no worse then any of the other officers. That's just the way it is here, and you better be glad I'm not heading your squadron cause I'd have to treat you the same way I treat my other cadets, and I've handed out some pretty harsh punishments." _

_John frowned. "Who said I'd need punishing?" he asked sarcastically. "Kelly hasn't caught me doing anything wrong yet and he's practically been hovering over my shoulder since we got here." _

_While he said this, Sam and Cam had been waving their hands maniacally and slashing their fingers across their throats. John trailed off, raising an eyebrow, then a wicked voice came from behind him that made him freeze. _

"_Too true, Sheppard."_

_John slowly turned around again and found himself face-to-chest with the said officer. He backed away several paces so he could meet the man's narrowed eyes. He stared up at him defiantly, and then Kelly looked towards Louie. _

"_Cadet Brigman," he addressed him, his tone less then friendly. "Why aren't you at your post?"_

"_I'm on break," he responded coolly. "Cadet Sathfield is taking over for me." _

"_Well I don't remember anyone telling us it was ok to make personal appointments while on break." _

"_I don't remember anyone telling us it wasn't."_

_Kelly narrowed his eyes at the other man. "Why don't you just head back to you're post, Brigman; and maybe I won't report you."_

_Louie glared back at him, then glanced over at the three terrified cadets once more before he turned on his heel and marched off into the darkness._

_Kelly turned towards them then. "You're lucky you had the actions of a superior officer to cover for you this time, Sheppard," he said coldly, and turned his attention to the other two. _

"_As for you two," he said, and they straightened up submissively, hands clasped behind their backs and legs spread slightly. Sam gulped and Cam could feel sweat forming on his newly showered skin. "I would get back to my stations if I were you."_

_And with that, he turned and marched off in the opposite direction. _

As the weeks dragged on at the camp, Cadet Kelly grew more and more frustrated. He despised John more then he despised any other cadet—his smug, charming, I'm-too-good-for-you attitude was enough to set off any officer—but no matter how close an eye he kept on him, he couldn't find any liable reason to punish the boy.

In fact, John Sheppard was amongst the top cadets in his squadron. He was above average academically, outstanding physically, and, despite his obvious lack of discipline, did as he was told. He was quick to learn, he could give him that.

He was beginning to regret letting the three off after the events back at the locker room, but Cadet Brigman was at the top of his class, and a favorite of all the officers at the academy. He would cover for them, and he would most likely succeed in making Kelly look like a fool again.

Meanwhile, Cam was growing more and more nervous as the weeks went by. He would tense and flinch every time John almost stepped out of line, fearing for his friend's well-being. He knew sooner or later John would step over that line and get himself kicked out of the academy. The last thing he expected was for Sam to be the one to get in trouble—or at least risk it...

_When field day came around, the entire class engaged in team sports. Girls and boys were divided up and squadrons competed against squadrons. Cam found himself on a team with John playing rugby against a rather tough team. When they were called to the sidelines and subs were sent in to fill their spots, he collapsed onto the bench and poured water over his head and face. It was too hot a day for rugby in his opinion, but Kelly, who was standing at the other end of their field monitoring the games, gave him a disapproving look, and he began to drink more savoringly from the canteen. _

_John took a seat beside him and waited patiently to be handed the canteen. Cam gave it to him and started watching the game. _

_Eventually, his eyes wandered over to the field beside them, where Sam's team was engaged in a rather close match against a team of girls who, for the most part, were much bigger then them._

_Sam was probably one of the best players on their team though, next to Heather, a girl she was sharing a room with. She had scored at least 5 points so far and stopped another 7 or 8. _

_He watched as a short, red-haired girl suffered a rough tackle by the opposing team. Sam was standing in a defensive stance. Her hair was sweaty and tangled and was hanging into her face in a disheveled way, and her face and clothes were covered in dirt and grass stains. She was breathing hard and watching the ball intently as it was put into play. _

_Cam swallowed hard. He knew from experience how competitive Sam could get, and right now she was in a very competitive mode. _

_The ball was away, and the players immediately started to swarm. _

_A blonde-haired girl on the other team who had been positioned opposite Sam on the line just moments before evaded her defense was now in possession of the ball and was running for the touch-down line. From what Cam had seen, she was a very skilled player, and it showed as she weaved around opposing players as they threw themselves at her only to land on their faces. _

_Sam quickly took action. She turned herself around and bolted after the girl, leaping over her own fallen players as she went. The girl was almost to the touch-down line when Sam tackled her directly in a mud patch._

_It reminded John of his first encounter with her all those years ago. Only then they had been children, and although Sam had ground his face into the mud to get her stolen possession back, she had had no real intent of hurting him. _

_But he could tell this was different. Whatever this girl had done to her it must have really pissed Sam off because, despite the fact she had already succeeded in tackling her and the whistle had been blown, signaling a turn over of the ball, she still kept her pinned down and was now drawing her fist back in preparation of punching her in the face. _

_The girl squirmed out of her grasp and slapped her with her mud-covered hand, splattering mud across Sam's face. This hardly fazed Sam, however, who proceeded to hurl her fist into the girl's face, and then draw it back again so she could hit her again. _

_Before she could though, Heather had rushed over and locked her hand around Sam's wrist and hauled her off the other girl, despite her struggles._

_The girl's teammates rushed to her side and began evaluating her injuries. Sam shucked her friend's hand off her shoulder and marched over to the sidelines where she sat out the rest of the game. _

_Cam was still in shock when they met up afterwards on their trek back to camp. Cam and John had purposefully hung back at the back of the group so they could talk to Sam. _

_"I can't believe you didn't get in trouble after that!" Cam said in a mixture of disapproval and amazement. _

_Sam was walking in between her two best friends, combing her fingers through her greasy and tangled hair in an attempt to neaten it. _

_"Hey, I was penalized wasn't I?" she said, having gotten over her little mood swing and now feeling rather proud of herself._

_"You broke her nose..." John reminded her._

_"It's rugby. What did you expect?"_

_Cam frowned. "What did that girl do to you anyways?"_

_"Look, we just don't get along too well, ok?" she said, but Cam was still rather dissatisfied. He had known this much, but he hadn't expected her to randomly attack the girl just because she was going for a touchdown. _

_Sam sighed, feeling her friend's persistent eyes still on her. "When we were playing she may have made a reference to Heather's beliefs," she said finally. Cam scowled at the thought. He had been told that her family was Jewish, and that some girls were giving her a hard time about it for whatever reason. "That, and she called me a bitch..." Sam added._

_He supposed that was understandable. He couldn't imagine anyone calling Sam Carter a bitch and getting away with it. He laughed lightly at Sam's scowl and she hit him in the stomach playfully. _

_John wedged himself in between them in an attempt to separate them and slung his arms around their shoulders. _

_The 5 weeks before the start of the school year were almost up, and they were confident they would get through them. _


End file.
